Tuesday, September 15, 2009


When I read the blog for this week I knew right away what story I would chose. I read it once as a child and I reread it for my children’s literature class. . The name of the book is the Indian and the Cupboard. I think it is a great book that allows one to use their imagination. The story is about a boy who acquires a cupboard for his birthday. What he does not know is that it is a magical cupboard that makes his toys come to life. When he places his toy Indian into the cupboard, a new world is opened up. As he befriends the Indian, he learns a lot about his culture and some of the misconceptions of the Native American culture. The one part that I remember clearly is when he sets up a tepee, the Indian refuses to get into the tepee because it was not his tribes type of home. It is a great book and there are many activities that can be done for all students in the classroom. The first idea off the top of my head that could be done with younger children would be to have them write about what toy they would want to have come alive. This would not only be a fun activity for them, but it would also help with their writing skills. The other activity that could be done with the older children would have to do with different Native American tribes. In the activity, students would have to pick one tribe and make a poster board and talk about all the information they learned about for the tribe they chose. The reason I enjoy this book so much is because there is so much imagination in it, as well as facts about a specific Native American tribe. As a kid, everyone wants their toys to come to life. So that is why I believe students would really connect with this book. I would recommend this book for any grade level. In the younger grades, it would be an activity that the teacher could do during teacher reading time, and for the older students they could actually read it themselves.

2 comments:

  1. This was one of the few "fantasy" books that I really liked when I was a kid. I don't know what it was about it, but I remember being SO into it.

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  2. I also remember reading this book in the 2nd grade. This book was so interesting and gave many opportunities for class discussion on Native Americans and creative writing.

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